Fat-free, low-protein diet, Cretan, vegetarian, macrobiotic diet, Hay Diet, Dr. X’s “super diet”… never have we had such cascades of diets. How can one find a way through the maze?

The law of balanceCentral to all natural processes is the law of balance. It underscores the balance that occurs everywhere between giving and taking. The amount of air we breathe out corresponds to what we inhale. The activity during the day must be compensated by a suitable period of rest, and in walking we keep our balance by compensating the movement of one leg with the other.

The law of balance also covers the nourishment of the body. Here it is necessary that a balance exists between on the one hand what the body consumes in the way of foodstuffs and on the other hand the activity demanded of it and what it eliminates as waste.

Our health depends on this balance, which has to be achieved over and over again, because we occasionally consume more food than we use or vice versa. The balance is ordinarily restored from one day to the next. But there are people in chronic imbalance, either out of a habit of eating too much, more than what the body would need, or eating too little.

In the case of overeating, illness follows from accumulation of waste products in the body. In the reverse situation malnutrition is caused by a deficiency of nutrients. In both cases the therapy must begin with the eating habits of the individuals affected to restore the lost balance.

Purpose of restrictive dietsDiets are restrictive regimens where one or several foods are renounced. How severe the restriction is depends on the goal in mind. If the aim is to relieve the body it may be enough to consume less amounts of food than usual. For a profound correction the food intake needs to be less than the demand. Only by depriving the body of what is necessary for it does it commence to burn the waste products stored in the deep tissues. This way they will finally disappear.